Japan to give $61 billion push to infrastructure

TOKYO: Japan will spend 6.2 trillion yen ($61 billion) on infrastructure to help double the number of tourists visiting the country, speed up the construction of a magnetic levitation line and aid building projects overseas.

The spending, approved by the Cabinet on Tuesday, is part of a 28 trillion yen stimulus package Prime Minister Shinzo Abe flagged in a speech last week to revive the world’s third-biggest economy and speed its exit from deflation.

The government will support expansion of ports to accommodate large cruise ships, boost airport capacity in the Tokyo area and regional economies, and strengthen transportation hubs, it said in a report released Tuesday.

Japan is aiming to double the number of overseas visitors to 40 million by the time of the Tokyo Summer Olympics in 2020. The government will provide loans to help bring forward the completion of a Nagoya-Osaka maglev link, originally scheduled to open in 2045, by eight years, it said.

"The impact on the transportation and tourism industry from the economic package will be huge," said Ryota Himeno, an analyst in Tokyo at Citigroup Inc. "There’s a limit to how much the government can increase tourism in Tokyo, Osaka and regular tourist areas. By teaming up with local governments and businesses and thinking flexibly about how to encourage tourism, they will be able to handle the increased demand."

There were 1.1 million visitors to Japan by cruise ships last year, more than double a year earlier, according to figures from the transport ministry. Japan wants to increase that to 5 million by 2020, according to a plan by Abe.